M&M changes gear, enters motorcycle segment with two models

Auto major Mahindra and Mahindra (M&M) on Thursday entered the high-revenue motorcycle segment by launching two models at both ends of the spectrum, a 110-cc entry-level bike and a premium 300 cc offering, which it claims is the country's fastest bike.

Stallio, the 110-cc bike, will be available in two variants and is priced between Rs 41,199 and Rs 44,699 (ex-showroom Pune), while the 300-cc Mojo, a "beast" designed by the company's Italian subsidiary Engines Engineering (EE), will be priced at Rs 1.75-lakh.

The launch comes after months of speculation about M&M's two-wheeler plans and ahead of the festive season,which witnesses maximum sales. The company has spent up to Rs 50 crore developing the two bikes.

M&M plans to start selling the Stallio by mid-October, while sales for the Mojo, the prototype of which was shown today, will kick-off by the year-end or early next year.

"Without adding any caveats, Mojo is the fastest Indian bike," M&M Group vice-chairman and managing director Anand Mahindra said after showcasing the bike.

The company executives later explained that during tests, the bike that uses components from the best names of the world, clocked up to 133 km per hour.

The Stallio's engine has been "co-created" by EE, M&M's research division and an unnamed Chinese supplier, M&M's president (two-wheeler sector) Anoop Mathur said.